Oilers Drafts Revisited: 2008

As part of our buildup to the 2014 NHL Draft, we’ve been revisiting Edmonton’s work at the draft table over the Kevin Lowe era, using the criteria established by TSN’s Scott Cullen here and here, which evaluates drafted players based on a 10-point scale and sets a benchmark for average NHL performance.

After seven years with indifferent results as the Edmonton Oilers chief scout, Kevin Prendergast got relieved of his duties in the usual Oilers way — he got promoted. Into the breach at the head of the amateur scouting department stepped Stu MacGregor, the man who himself will be participating in his seventh NHL Draft later this week.

MacGregor stepped into an unusual draft year, in that the Oilers had ceded their first three picks to the Anaheim Ducks as compensation for signing restricted free agent Dustin Penner. Fortunately, the Ducks had to send a first-rounder the other way, the fifth and final asset from the (second) Chris Pronger trade. That was a conditional first-rounder, with the condition being met when the Pronger-led Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007.

As a result of all this, Oilers had one pick much later in the first round than their own status as an also-ran would normally provide. But given the #22 pick as his lone trip to the plate in the top 100, MacGregor & Co. hit it out of the park:

Jordan Eberle was the first legitimate finisher to be drafted by the Oilers since (arguably) Mike Comrie in 1999, and before that, the cluster of Jason Arnott, Miro Satan and Ryan Smyth in 1993 and ’94. Certainly he became the first drafted Oiler since Comrie to hit the 30- (or even the 25-) goal plateau, which he did in his second full NHL season. After the lockout split his production in 2012-13 (25 goals in the AHL, 16 in the NHL), Eberle again led the team this past season with 28 snipes, tied with trade pick-up David Perron for the team lead.

Eberle was the only one of the six forwards taken with the Oilers top pick from 2007-12 who was taken outside the top ten; and the only one who wasn’t rushed to the NHL as a teenager. Despite a pair of promising training camps, he was sent back to Regina each year, did a star turn for Canada at the World Juniors each mid-season, then joined Springfield Falcons for a successful stretch run both years. The second of those years he was even invited to the World Senior Championships — this before he ever played a game as an Oiler. That gig started the following October with a memorable goal against the Flames in his debut. He led the Oilers in scoring his first two years, and remains (with 2010 draft Taylor Hall) one of the club’s top two scoring threats. Score this pick a direct hit for MacGregor, a badly needed home run in his first at bat.

Teemu Hartikainen was by far the most promising of the late picks.

That did set the bar rather high, mind, as words like “magnificent” started to get tossed around maybe a little more than warranted. For sure there was little additional evidence from 2008 of an Early Barry Fraser-style draft savant. Hard to do that without any more picks in the top hundred, of course. The four guys the Oilers did pick in the back half of the draft ranged from mildy promising to downright puzzling. The former applied to Teemu Hartikainen, a big Finn who looked good in the AHL and earned several looks from the big club, but failed to produce at the top level. Ultimately he left for the KHL when his entry level contract expired; his rights have subsequently been dealt to Toronto Maple Leafs where he may yet have a career. But from an Oilers perspective, he’s history.

So too is Jordan Bendfeld, the puzzling selection from the seventh round. Bendfeld was a 20-year-old redraft, but showed little in 106 games with the Oilers ECHL affiliate and less in two cups of coffee in the AHL. Three years out from the draft he was out of the game.

The other two picks, mid-rounders Johan Motin and Philippe Cornet, both showed a little in the AHL and each got a brief cup of coffee with the Oilers. Neither appeared to be NHL calibre, and soon enough both players were gone from the organization. Cornet departed upon the expiry of his ELC a year ago, while Motin went home to Sweden during the last year of his own pact.

Six years out from the 2008 draft, all that remains in the Oilers organization is the one player, but he’s a good one. In a lean year with only five picks, none of them in the top 20, to grab one bona fide first liner was a pretty decent outcome. But was it a harbinger of better things to come?

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the “X” in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.